I’ve had a pretty international life thus far: born in Korea, raised in cities around the US (east coast; west coast; the pacific northwest), a semester abroad in Europe, a year in Japan, and now entering my fifth year in Australia. Along the way, I’ve met people who’ve moved me, energised me, inspired me, encouraged me, shook me, and assured me. Far too many to count. Rodrigo + Claudia are two such beautiful people. I met this gorgeous Colombian couple during my first year in Australia — and I’ve been touched by their love and sincerity since that first introduction. Both Rodri + Claudia struggled a bit with their English at the time, but with their broken English and my inability to really understand the Aussie accent, we understood just about the same amount. (Lucky we had my Aussie hubby there to translate for us all when out at restaurants.) :)

Two and half years ago, they welcomed into this world their gorgeously beautiful son, Santiago, and I’ve been so lucky to be able to watch him grow into a smart young boy. And while I always knew that at some point, this loving family of three would have to say goodbye to us and return to their homeland of Bogota, I didn’t realise it would dawn on us so quickly: the time has come to say a sad goodbye to my dear friends. With a bittersweet heart, I agreed to capture portraits for them in the city that enabled their small family to grow. We will miss you, beautiful Claudia + Rodri + Santi… but we will see you in South America soon. Mark my words. :)

So without further ado, I’d like to announce the winner of the new blog contest: Ashley W! Thanks so much for writing in, Ashley. I’ll be in touch over email to talk about your free mentor session with me (are you sure you don’t want the iTunes gift card or the chance to work on rebranding with Renee??)! :) Truth be told, I am a bit nervous about the mentoring session… but I guess it’s all part of the learning curve. And who knows, if all goes well and Ashley actually learns something from me, then AWESOME! Perhaps I’ll even consider doing more if there’s interest and I feel like it’s really helping. :)

I have so much to blog this week, and so little time! Here’s a quick peek at what’s to come! Have a great Wednesday/Thursday (wherever you may be), everyone!

Something exciting is in the works and it’s all thanks to the talent and wonderfulness of a man called Dan. (Gee, I couldn’t have made that rhyme more if I wanted to!) I can’t say exactly what it is just yet; just that it has a lot to do with weddings. And taking photos. And partnership. Oh no, have I said too much? Time will tell all of these plans but until then I’ll be sure to drop a few hints every now and again. :)

I assisted Dan at gorgeous Nat and handsome Langdon’s wedding a few weeks ago, and we had a blast. I always knew Dan was HILARIOUS, but I wasn’t sure if he’d “bring it” on a wedding day. Well…it was brought. And I spent most of the day laughing my butt off with the bride + groom and their crew at all of his “O’Day-um!-isms.” (Dang. I am so witty it’s not even funny.) In fact, I’m surprised I got any non-shaky shots given all my cackling that day. But sigh, a professional is a professional, and I simply made it happen folks. :) Hahaha.

Thanks for letting me spend such a fun day with you Dan. Can’t wait to do it all again next weekend! And a huge congratulations to the beautiful newlyweds: hope you’ve recovered from your big day and had an amazing honeymoon!

And I think it’s only fitting that I end the post with a few outtakes of Dan the Wedding Photographer Man Who Hails from not Afghanistan and occasionally sends me email spam and may or may not enjoy eating flan:

In addition to meeting my hunky hubby, I met wonderful people who remain close friends to this day. We relied on each other, listened to each other, kept each other sane during moments of cultural frustration, encouraged one another’s amazing karaoke singing skillZ at local pubs, and experienced together the wonderful foreign topsy turvy crazy repressed insane world that was Japan. One such friend is Amanda, my Texan partner-in-crime who let me crash at her place during late night weekends in the city (she lived in Wakayama city while I lived in Miyama village). :) We’ve seen each other three times since leaving Japan – and when she told me she was studying abroad in Australia this semester, I begged her to come visit me and the hubbster in Canberra.

As with all guests who visit Canberra for the first time, we were determined to make her trip a-ma-zing so that she’d spread the word on how fabulous this town truly is (please note my use of the word “town”). So we forced her out in the rain to do a leisurely, pleasant bushwalk today out in Tidbinbilla National Park. It. Poured. At the end of our 6K hike, a shivering, cold Amanda stuttered, “Tha-aat was re-re-eeally fun g-g-g-uys. Th-thanks.”

You’re WELCOME!!! :) Canberra loves you. And thank you for coming out to visit us… was so great to remember memories from so long ago. xoxo (PS Britt + Corri, we missed you two.)

An ode to John Denver is quite necessary to start this post… well, either Johnny’s song or Stevie’s “You are the sunshine of my life” (which was the song that my dad and I danced to at my wedding, sniff!). The day was warm and the afternoon sun was glorious. I silently hummed this tune as I photographed this beautiful family of three – because after all, when the light is this gorgeous, (silent) singing is a necessity!

They say Canberra doesn’t have beaches… well guess what? They’re right – we don’t. But we DO have some pretty awesome man-made lakes, and you can bet your bum I take advantage of them! And besides, they basically look like beaches in photos anyway. (Right? Or am I the only one that thinks this?) :) So off we went, to our local “beach,” for our sunshiney session. And I must commend Steph and Glenn and their gorgeous little princess for being so obliging to my every demand request: “Do you guys wanna get IN the algae-infested water?” “Can you please lean on this spider-weby tree?” “Should we play a game, like trying to balance on the rocks?” “Okay don’t look at me! Just do your thaaang!” They were amazing. Our session was amazing. The sunshine was amazing. Enjoy your preview, my Sunshiney Family! Your gallery will be up shortly! :)

All this cuteness and beauty and general all-around loveliness is due to the creative genius that is Ribbons of Red. Renee and I have been working together since August of 2009, when I approached her about rebranding Pobke Photography. Since then, we’ve become great friends and she’s played such an invaluable, integral part in the growth of my business – and I can’t stop gushing about her! Months after the wonderful rebranding project was complete, I found myself craving a new look and feel for the blog – it needed a place that was “just right” and I knew Renee would be the only one perfect for the job. Eight short weeks of design banter and over 61 emails later (yes, I bothered her a lot – but she indulged me!), it’s finally here… and I hope it brings you as much happiness, joy and comfort as it does to me!

In honour of my new blog, I’d like to run a Celebrate My New Blog With Me! contest. There are three ways to enter (and you can do all three if your heart desires!) – you just have to comment in this post to let me know which one(s) you’ve done: 1. Tweet this blog; 2. Become a fan of Pobke Photography on Facebook; or 3. Just leave me a comment to let me know what you think of my new online home! One commenter will win one of the following prizes (winner’s choice): for families and couples: a free session ($150AUD value) with me (must take place in the ACT); for new photographers: a one hour mentor session where you can ask me anything (either by phone or Skype or in-person if you’re local!); for those who want to rebrand and design their company: a $100AUD credit voucher to work with the fabulous Renee from Ribbons of Red; for everyone else: a $100AUD iTunes gift card. Contest closes at midnight on 9 March 2010.

So sit back, relax, and have a nice long look-see: I’ve got several new posts that I’ve been dying to blog, all featured below. But before I let you explore, check out these shots that my good friend (an immensely talented wedding photographer) Dan O’Day shot of me while I was second shooting a wedding for him last weekend! Thanks again for taking the time to stop by – I can’t wait to hear what you think!!

Clinton and I met Justin and Emily through the great sport that is squash. Yes, people, the Pobkes are huge squashies. We’re not great squashies, but we’re totally into it. We learned to play three years ago, upon discovering the rarely used squash court downstairs in our apartment complex! (Hello? The 1980s called and they want their squash court back!) We both joined the co-ed squash competition in Canberra, and play in the pre-season squash comps as well (a five week tournament set up just before the start of the official season).

Squash, dear blog readers, is how we have befriended many new peeps. And last year’s pre-season comp is how we met Justin. Justin is hilarious – whenever we hang out with him we end up in stitches over some witty Justinisms. Naturally, such a charming dude will attract an equally charming dudette – which is how we met his fabulously wonderful wife, Emily.

Canberra being Canberra, I was bound to meet Emily regardless of having met Justin. And so it was no surprise to anyone that when I rocked up to play Women’s Squash ACT (yes, I play for two comps; and no, I’m still not that good), I learned that Emily was on my team. We quickly bonded and our friendship flourished. And within two weeks of meeting her, she told me she was pregnant with their first child. I was in heaven. To have the chance to know her before, during and after her pregnancy? Yes please!

Their beautiful princess L was born into this world thirteen days ago, at 11 pounds 11 ounces. She is perfect in every way, and breathtakingly beautiful… absolutely worth the wait. As it was my first official newborn session, I was  (a) lucky that Jus and Em trusted me enough to capture these images in spite of my nerves (she just felt so fragile – I didn’t want to break her!); and (b) extremely lucky that my good friend Natalie came along to work her baby-cooing magic on the lil’ princess, managing to keep her calm and blissfully asleep throughout the whole session.

Welcome to the world, lovely L. Your parents have waited a long time for you, and you are beautiful, precious and very much loved.

“You’re on Facebook a lot.” People say this to me all the time, and I can’t help but blush about it… I am a total Facebook Junkie. But how can I not be? I live abroad, far, far away from so many loved ones. I have cousins in Korea, Japan and the US. My best friends live in Seattle, Washington. I’ve got buddies in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Facebook was invented so that I could reconnect with everyone and know every last detail about their day. Some people find such updates annoying and mundane. I find them hysterical and wonderful!

Another benefit to social networking is meeting new people, like my blog readers. So many faithful blog readers have found me and added me, and I’ve had the best time getting to know them online. After all, it’s only fair that I know your day-to-day musings if I spill my guts on this blog! :)

Eva is one such person: we’ve been “friends” for months now: I feel like I know her and her gorgeous family of five so well. For instance, I know that her adorable daughter screamed for booze after eating dinner (she’s four); I know her husband Jason is a talented singer + songwriter (check out his beautiful music here); and I’m totally up-to-date with her latest fabulous jewelry designs (they’re amazing, and I know I’m going to be broke very soon from buying the lot – check them out here and here). So it should come to no surprise to anyone that when we finally met face-to-face for her scheduled family session, it was like old friends coming together to say, “HAI!”

Eva and Jason’s family is gorgeous. And trendy. And ridiculously good looking. And kind. And wonderful to be around. Their three beautiful children were so well-behaved and fun to photograph that I can’t seem to think of the perfect word to describe them. Hmm… perhaps “perfect” is spot on.

Above all, our session totally reaffirmed to me the awesomeness that is Facebook. Yes, I’m on it a lot. But how can I not be, when I get to meet wonderful clients (and now friends!) like these?

Kanwal and Steve LOVE each other. I know it’s safe to say that most people who are about to be married love each other – but theirs is a different kind of love: they’re not the “touchy feely make you wanna puke because they call each other SCHMOOPY all the time” kinda couple. They’re the “show the world our love through laughter” kinda couple. And for someone who loves to crack lame jokes (thumbs point to self), I couldn’t have asked for a better audience than these two lovebirds.

They’ve been together for nearly a decade, traveling here and there and everywhere. They are a smart, accomplished couple: Kanwal is a successful psychologist and Steve? Well you can call him “Dr. Steve.” By the end of our engagement shoot, I couldn’t help but get butterflies for their upcoming wedding. I just know it’s going to be a beautiful day filled with belly-aching laughter and love, and I couldn’t be happier for this lovely, warm duo.

Congratulations guys, and I can’t wait to capture what is going to be the most beautiful, gorgeous wedding day. Enjoy your engagement preview!